Over the past year, Recharge has heard about a lot of wacky ways to use hydrogen – from autonomous freight submarines to Hindenburg-style airships and even cargo bicycles.

But here’s a zany use of hydrogen that its inventor won’t claim will help save the Earth – although it could bring peace to a galaxy far, far away.

A Russian YouTuber has been recognised by Guinness World Records for building the world’s first “retractable lightsaber”. And here’s the video to prove it:

Not only can it cut through steel, but it could also defeat a Sith Lord of the Galactic Empire – as long as the duel only lasted 30 seconds, by which times its fuel runs out.

Unlike the “real” Star Wars lightsabers, which were apparently powered by kyber crystals harvested on the planet Ilum in the 7G sector of the Unknown Regions – a world that was later turned into the Starkiller Base destroyed at the end of The Force Awakens movie (honestly, Recharge is not making this up) – Alex Burkan powers his weapon with hydrogen and oxygen produced from a home-made water-splitting electrolyser.

“After hundreds of experiments and bench tests, Alex was able to adapt the hydrogen and oxygen burner so it formed the shape and length required for his lightsaber,” Guinness explains on its website.

Curiously, it’s not the first time that Guinness has recognised the world’s first lightsaber, although that propane-powered “proto-lightsaber” invented by another YouTuber – which does look a lot more Luke Skywalkerish (see video below) — involves a backpack and piping that makes it a kind of hybrid Star Wars/Ghostbustersbaddie-defeating contraption.

Suppose all Recharge can say about all these and future new-energy lightsaber-makers is: “May the Force be with you...”